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This assessment measures your grasp of the tools to develop inclusive leadership: leadership that invites trust based on transparency, the recognition of diversity, and the practice of equity.Write a 10-page paper in which you:
Define the DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion) problem of practice. At a community college
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Analyze how Kegan and Kahey’s three dimensions of a DDO can be applied to improve your equity or inclusion problem of practice in your organization.
Provide recommendations for improving a culture of equity or inclusion (especially with respect to trust and power).
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The six signature traits
of inclusive leadership
Thriving in a diverse new world
Deloitte’s Human Capital professionals leverage research, analytics, and industry insights to help design and
execute the HR, talent, leadership, organization, and change programs that enable business performance
through people performance. Visit the Human Capital area of www.deloitte.com to learn more.
About the authors
Bernadette Dillon is a client director in Human Capital consulting at Deloitte, where she specializes in diversity and inclusion. A chartered accountant by background, she has worked with a range
of organizations, both locally and internationally, with respect to diversity and inclusion strategy
development, inclusive leadership assessment and development, analytics and diagnostics, and
inclusive culture change. Dillon has co-authored a number of publications relating to diversity and
inclusion, and is currently based in the United Kingdom.
Juliet Bourke is a partner in Human Capital consulting at Deloitte, where she leads the Australian
Diversity and Inclusion practice and co-leads the Australian Leadership practice. She has over 20
years’ experience in human capital and is an internationally recognized author and speaker on
diversity and inclusion, cultural change, and leadership. Bourke has authored many publications on
diversity and inclusion, most recently publishing Which two heads are better than one? How diverse
teams create breakthrough ideas and make robust decisions, which examines decision making, diversity of thinking, biases, and behaviors.
The six signature traits of inclusive leadership
Contents
Introduction: A new leadership capability | 1
A diverse new world: Markets, customers, ideas, and talent | 4
The six signature traits of an inclusive leader | 7
What can organizations do? | 19
Appendix: Research methodology | 21
Endnotes | 23
Contacts | 25
Acknowledgements | 26
iv
Thriving in a diverse new world
Introduction: A new
leadership capability
W
HAT will it take to be a great leader in
the future? In five years, ten years, even
fifteen years?
Say those numbers slightly differently—2020, 2025, or 2030—and your imagination takes you somewhere else entirely. To
the realm of science fiction in which books
and films paint vivid pictures of a future that
looks vastly different from that which we know
today. There is the devastated world and its
dystopian societies, the artificial world with
synthetic humans, and myriads of other worlds
scattered throughout foreign galaxies.
In these books and films, there’s always a
quest, and there’s always a hero. Smart and
strong, they carry the weight of the world on
their shoulders. They have a sidekick, if lucky,
but rarely are the leader and the sidekick
equals, and they almost never operate as a
team. The decisions these leaders make—the
actions they take—culminate in the restoration
of humanity.
What’s curious is that this iconic image of
the heroic leader remains constant despite the
vastly changed environment. It seems we can
easily imagine different future contexts, but
when it comes to thinking about leadership
differently, we are on a repeating loop. It makes
for great entertainment, but it is not the stuff
of reality. Yes, the context will change—it is
changing already—and this will demand adaptation by those playing a leading role.
So what is this different context? In a volatile and complex world, predicting the future
with precision is a risky business. We can be
sure, however, about four global mega-trends
that are reshaping the environment and influencing business priorities:1
First, diversity of markets: Demand is shifting to emerging markets. With their growing
middle class, these new markets represent the
single biggest growth opportunity in the portfolio of many companies around the world.
Second, diversity of customers: Customer
demographics and attitudes are changing.
Empowered through technology and with
greater choice, an increasingly diverse customer base expects better personalization of
products and services.
Third, diversity of ideas: Digital technology, hyper-connectivity, and deregulation are
disrupting business value chains and the nature
of consumption and competition. Few would
argue against the need for rapid innovation.
Fourth, diversity of talent: Shifts in age
profiles, education, and migration flows, along
with expectations of equality of opportunity and work/life balance, are all impacting
employee populations.
Diversity of markets, customers, ideas,
and talent: These simultaneous shifts are the
new context. For leaders who have perfected
their craft in a more homogenous environment, rapid adjustment is in order. Of course,
1
The six signature traits of inclusive leadership
Figure 1. The six signature traits of an inclusive leader
Cognizance
Curiosity
Because bias is a leader’s
Achilles’ heel
Because different ideas and
experiences enable growth
The six
signature
traits
Courage
Because talking about
imperfections involves
personal risk-taking
Cultural
intelligence
Because not everyone
sees the world through
the same cultural frame
Commitment
Collaboration
Because staying the
course is hard
Because a diverse-thinking team is
greater than the sum of its parts
Graphic: Deloitte University Press | DUPress.com
2
Thriving in a diverse new world
the core aspects of leadership, such as setting
direction and influencing others, are timeless,
but we see a new capability that is vital to the
way leadership is executed. We call this inclusive leadership, and our research has identified
six traits that characterize an inclusive mindset and inclusive behavior.
This report is intended to help leaders think
about how traditional notions of leadership
must change.2 We are not suggesting a wholesale replacement of previous leadership theory.
Elements of inclusive leadership are echoed
in transformational, servant, and authentic
leadership, for example, and these concepts are
carried forward. However, we have amplified
and built on these known attributes to define
a powerful new capability uniquely adapted
to a diverse environment. Understanding
and being adept at inclusive leadership will
help leaders thrive in their increasingly
diverse environment.
This report is structured in three parts.
First, we briefly describe the four shifts
elevating the importance of inclusive leadership—the “Why care?” aspect of the discussion. In the second part, we have identified the
six signature traits of an inclusive leader (figure
1). In doing so, we have mined our experiences with more than 1,000 global leaders,
deep-diving into the views of 15 leaders and
subject matter experts, and surveying over
1,500 employees on their perceptions of inclusion. We have also built on existing thought
leadership and applied research and drawn
on work with our inclusive leadership assessment tool—on which our six-part framework
is based—which has proved both reliable and
valid in pilot testing.3 Sensing that inclusive
leadership is a new capability, we have been
examining this space since 2011, rather than
relying solely on pre-existing leadership assessments and databases, with their historic biases.
We conclude with some suggested strategies to
help organizations cultivate inclusive capabilities across their leadership population.
3
The six signature traits of inclusive leadership
A diverse new world: Markets,
customers, ideas, and talent
F
OUR global mega-trends are creating a
business context that is far less homogenous and much more diverse than has historically been the case. These interrelated shifts are
influencing business priorities, and reshaping
the capabilities required of leaders to succeed
in the future.
Diversity of markets
The growth in emerging market economies may have slowed—and big challenges
abound—but the long-term potential
remains significant.4
By 2025, the world’s middle-class population is expected to reach 3.2 billion, up from
1.8 billion in 2009, with the majority of this
growth coming from Asia, Africa, and Latin
America.5 As income levels rise, so does consumer demand. This growing population now
represents the single biggest growth opportunity in the portfolio of many companies
around the world.6
Reaching these consumers profitably, however, is anything but straightforward.7 Markets
are characterized by significant cultural, political, and economic differences. Tension exists
between local adaptation and international
scale. Home-grown players can provide stiff
competition and strong local talent is scarce.
Indeed, in a 2015 survey of 362 executives, just
10 percent believed that they have the full suite
of capabilities needed to win offshore.8
4
So what does this mean for those with
global ambitions? While there is no single
formula for success, research shows that having
people with a more global mindset and capability is critical.9 John Lewis, Jr., global chief
diversity officer of The Coca-Cola Company,
agrees: “Right now, our fastest-growing
markets around the world are sub-Saharan
Africa, India, and China. How we win in these
markets is as much a matter of how we embed
ourselves in these cultures [as any other factor]. The question I put to our business leaders
is: Even if we get all the tactics and logistics
right, can we win if we don’t get the people part
right?”10
Diversity of customers
Customers have always been able to vote
with their feet. Today, this power is even
greater. Empowered through their digital
devices and with more choice, customers
expect greater personalization and a voice in
shaping the products and services they consume.11 Facing millions of individual expectations and experiences across an increasingly
diverse customer base, the challenge for companies is to deliver individualized insights and
a personal touch with the efficiencies of scale.
To remain competitive in this environment,
organizations have realized, customer centricity is paramount. Customer promises are
being written into vision statements, operating
Thriving in a diverse new world
models are being redesigned to ensure that
customers are at the heart of the business, and
the role of the “chief customer officer” has been
created and elevated to the executive team.
But more than just changing systems and
structures, organizations are increasingly
focusing on cultivating more customer-centric
mindsets and capabilities. The new buzzwords
of “empathy” and “connectedness”—concepts
that underpin popular methods such as design
thinking—are taking hold as organizations
strive to better understand customers’ worlds
and future needs. And while development
programs of the past may have focused on
traditional customer-facing roles, a leader-led
approach is increasingly being adopted.
Telstra has embarked on a journey to orient
the entire organization around the customer,
including the way leaders are developed.
“Leaders are central to the connected strategy,”
says Rob Brown, director of customer advocacy.12 “They are the linchpin that sets the pace
and culture of our organization. If leaders don’t
understand how we need to think differently,
if they don’t get that we need to connect with
customers’ needs to understand what they
want and how best to simplify things for them,
then it’s hard, if not impossible, for the teams
to get it.”
Diversity of ideas
Organizations must “innovate or die,” extols
Bill Gates.13 A bold statement, but we need not
look far to see its validity. Seemingly overnight, digital disruption has reshaped whole
industries and iconic brands and brought forth
new players.
For most leaders, it’s an imperative that’s
well understood. In a 2014 survey of 1,500
executives, three-quarters said that innovation
was among their company’s top three priorities.14 Despite this, 83 percent perceived their
companies’ innovation capabilities to be average (70 percent) or weak (13 percent).15
So what sets apart breakthrough innovators from the rest? The survey found that,
compared with others, “breakthrough” innovators “cast a wide net for ideas.”16 In the
race for new ideas, diversity of thinking is
gaining prominence as a strategy to protect
against groupthink and generate breakthrough
insights. However, while many agree intellectually that collective intelligence enhances group
performance, few understand how to consistently achieve it with any degree of specificity.17
In this context, a leader’s understanding of
how diversity of thinking works will be critical
to success. As François Hudon, an executive
at Bank of Montreal, states: “For leaders, it’s
making sure you have little risk of being blindsided by something that a diverse team would
have known about and would have identified
as an opportunity or a risk. I think it brings
far greater confidence to the decision making
when you know you are being supported by
people who have far more diverse points of
view.”
Diversity of talent
Diversity of talent is at risk of being
overshadowed by other shifts. This is because
demographic change has a slow-burn effect on
workplace profiles. And, of course, diversity of
talent is not a new topic. Anti-discrimination
laws and the “war for talent” have seen organizations pay attention to historically marginalized groups for some time. Leaders underplay
this shift at their peril.
Changes in population age profiles, education, and migration flows, along with expectations of equality of opportunity and work/life
balance, are all deeply impacting employee
populations. More than ever, future success
will depend on a leader’s ability to optimize a
diverse talent pool.
By way of example, the world’s population
is aging rapidly. In 2050, those aged 65 and
over are predicted to reach 22 percent of the
global population, up from 10 percent today,18
with implications for workforce participation.
Against that backdrop, the expansion of higher
education is creating a group of highly mobile,
5
The six signature traits of inclusive leadership
educated workers.19 By 2030, China will have
more graduates than the entire US workforce,
and India will produce four times as many
graduates as the United States by 2020.20 The
Millennials, too, are coming of age. This generation will comprise 50 percent of the global
workforce by 2020.21 With high expectations
and different attitudes toward work, they will
be integral in shaping organizational cultures
into the future.
To date, however, data suggest that many
companies have struggled to include diverse
6
employees. For example, while their number in
the workforce is increasing, women hold just
12 percent of corporate board seats worldwide.22 In the future, demographic shifts will
put greater pressure on leaders to be inclusive
of diversity. According to one leader interviewed, “Fundamentally, inclusion is a principle that anybody who is good enough to be
employed within the team is capable of becoming a leader and developing to the best of their
potential. And that is anybody.”
Thriving in a diverse new world
The six signature traits of an
inclusive leader
I
F inclusive leadership reflects a new way of
leading teams, then we need to look beyond
traditional leadership assessment tools and
frameworks. Since 2011, we have researched
this new leadership capability, with our initial
exploration leading us to be much more certain
about “inclusion” itself—what it means, how it
is experienced by others, and how to measure
it. More specifically, our research revealed that
when people feel that they are treated fairly,
that their uniqueness is appreciated and they
have a sense of belonging, and that they have
a voice in decision making, then they will feel
included.23 (See the appendix for a full description of our research methodology.)
2. Personalizing individuals—that is, understanding and valuing the uniqueness of
diverse others while also accepting them as
members of the group
3. Leveraging the thinking of diverse groups
for smarter ideation and decision making
that reduces the risk of being blindsided
To achieve these aims, highly inclusive
leaders demonstrate six signature traits—in
terms of what they think about and what they
do—that are reinforcing and interrelated.
Collectively, these six traits represent a powerful capability highly adapted to diversity.
Embodiment of these traits enables leaders to
Table 1. Elements of inclusion
Fairness and respect
Value and belonging
Confidence and inspiration
Foundational element that is
underpinned by ideas about equality
of treatment and opportunities
Individuals feeling that their
uniqueness is known and
appreciated, while also feeling a
sense of social connectedness and
group membership
Creating the conditions for high
team performance through
individuals having the confidence to
speak up and the motivation to do
their best work
Putting this into the context of leaders,
inclusive leadership is about:
1. Treating people and groups fairly—that is,
based on their unique characteristics, rather
than on stereotypes
operate more effectively within diverse markets, better connect with diverse customers,
access a more diverse spectrum of ideas, and
enable diverse individuals in the workforce to
reach their full potential.
7
The six signature traits of inclusive leadership
Table 2. The six signature traits of an inclusive leader
Six traits
15 elements
1
2
3
4
5
6
Commitment
Courage
Cognizance
of bias
Curiosity
Cultural
intelligence
Collaboration
Personal values
Humility
Self-regulation
Openess
Drive
Empowerment
Belief in the
business case
Bravery
Fair play
Perspectivetaking
Knowledge
Teaming
Coping with
ambiguity
Adaptability
Voice
These six traits and fifteen elements are not
a meaningless or aspirational laundry list. As
our interviews and formal 180-degree assessment of leaders and peers/followers revealed,
they are very tangible and developable.
Trait 1: Commitment
Highly inclusive leaders are committed to
diversity and inclusion because these objectives align with their personal values and
because they believe in the business case.
Being inclusive of diversity is a big challenge. It takes time and energy, two of a leader’s
most precious commodities. So what motivates
a leader to expend these resources in the pursuit of diversity?
Clearly, an understanding of the commercial imperative is critical, as discussed in the
previous section. “It is hard to argue with the
diversity argument in a business context,” says
Jennifer Reid, head of retail, business, and treasury payments operations at Bank of Montreal.
“When you look at the changes in the business
environment, it would be very difficult for any
business leader to say they don’t need to pay
attention.”
Intriguingly, however, many of the leaders interviewed in our research cited the
extrinsic reward of enhanced performance as
a secondary motivator. Their primary motivation for pursuing diversity and inclusion was
8
alignment with their own personal values and
a deep-seated sense of fairness. “To me, it’s all
about fairness and equality of opportunity,”
says Belinda Hutchinson, chancellor of the
University of Sydney. “It’s about giving people
the opportunity to achieve what they should be
able to achieve. It doesn’t just relate to gender.
It relates to race, religion, sexual preference—
whatever else it may be.”
This insight is consistent with research
by the US-based think tank Catalyst, which
identified “a strong sense of fair play” as the
most significant predictor that men would
champion gender initiatives in the workplace.24
Interestingly, Catalyst also observed that individuals’ “commitment to fairness ideals was
rooted in very personal experiences.”25 This
finding has particular resonance for one leader
we interviewed: “At school . . . it was very
much an in-group and out-group dynamic that
I experienced. And I have always had sensitivity to any form of exclusion that comes from a
person.”
This combination of intellect (that is, belief
in the business case) and emotion (that is,
a sense of fair play and caring for people as
individuals, not “resources”) is consistent with
the “head and heart” strategy emphasized
by change expert John Kotter. According to
Kotter, while engaging the minds of individuals through rational arguments is important,
Thriving in a diverse new world
“people change what they do less because
they are given analysis that shifts their thinking than because they are shown a truth that
influences their feelings.”26 The Coca-Cola
Company’s Lewis, Jr., agrees: “The business
case is compelling. But for this to work, you
need to connect to the minds and the hearts.”
We suspect it is this blend that enables leaders to speak about diversity and inclusion in a
compelling way. As one leader observes, inclusive leaders have an “authenticity about the
agenda and a consistency about it as well. It is
in their communications. People look at them
and say they are ‘fair dinkum.’” For Dr. Rohini
Anand, senior vice president and global chief
diversity officer at Sodexo, this contrasts with
those who are not committed: “It is not necessarily people saying overt things . . . [but] they
are just mouthing words without internalizing
it. Therefore it is shallow and not sustainable.”
More than just talking, when leaders prioritize time, energy, and resources to address
inclusion, it signals that a verbal commitment
is a true priority. As Mike Henry, president
of operations for Minerals for Australia at
BHP Billiton explains, prioritization includes
treating diversity and inclusion as a business
imperative: “Like any other organizational priority, or something that is strategically significant to the organization, it needs to be part of
the business plan, management conversations,
and targets, and you need to have an objective
way of assessing whether you are achieving
what you want to achieve.” At a personal level,
inclusive leaders also believe that creating an
inclusive culture starts with them, and they
possess a strong sense of personal responsibility for change. “You can’t just come out as
a leader and say, ‘This is important; set the
targets, and everyone go out and achieve the
targets,’” says Henry. “You may achieve the targets, but not the culture you need. The leader
needs to invest in people, building shared aspiration and building an aligned understanding
of the business case. They need to work with
the team on the ‘how.’”
CATALYST AND INCLUSIVE
LEADERSHIP
Founded in 1962, Catalyst is a leading nonprofit
organization that seeks to expand opportunities
for women and business. A 2014 study by
Catalyst identified four leadership behaviors
that predicted feelings of uniqueness and
belongingness—key elements of inclusion—
across employees in Australia, China, Germany,
Mexico, and the United States. These were:
• Empowerment: Enabling direct reports to
develop and excel
• Humility: Admitting mistakes; learning
from criticism and different points of view;
acknowledging and seeking contributions
of others to overcome one’s limitations
• Courage: Putting personal interests aside
to achieve what needs to be done; acting
on convictions and principles even when it
requires personal risk-taking
• Accountability: Demonstrating confidence
in direct reports by holding them
responsible for performance they can
control
The current research has identified similar
leadership behaviors (that is, personal risk-taking,
humility, and empowerment) as important to
inclusive leadership. However, our framework
expands on these ideas in the broader context of
diversity of markets, ideas, customers, and talent.
Most importantly, it identifies the 15 specific
elements inclusive leaders think about and do.
9
The six signature traits of inclusive leadership
Table 3. Elements of commitment
Signature trait: Commitment
Element
Personal values
What inclusive leaders
think about
• Alignment of personal values to
inclusion
What inclusive leaders do
• Treat all team members with fairness and respect
• Understand the uniqueness of each team member
• Take action to ensure each team member feels connected to
the group/organization
• Proactively adapt their work practices to meet the needs of
others
Business case belief
• Commercial value of diversity
and inclusion with respect to
talent, innovation, customers,
and new market growth
• Treat diversity and inclusion as a business priority
• Take personal responsibility for diversity and inclusion
outcomes
• Clearly and authentically articulate the value of diversity and
inclusion
• Allocate resources toward improving diversity and inclusion
within the workplace
Trait 2: Courage
Highly inclusive leaders speak up and
challenge the status quo, and they are humble
about their strengths and weaknesses.
“The early adopters of this work have been
. . . perceived as mavericks in their environment,” says The Coca-Cola Company’s Lewis,
Jr. “Frankly, they need to be a bit courageous,
because they buck the trend. For leaders, they
need to make a decision as to whether they
dig in and entrench as they are, or recognize
the world as it will become, and be part of the
change.” The courage to speak up—to challenge others and the status quo—is a central
behavior of an inclusive leader, and it occurs at
three levels: with others, with the system, and
with themselves.
Challenging others is perhaps the most
expected focus for leaders. For one leader
interviewed, courage includes gently challenging followers to see their behaviors and
the impact they have on others. “I talk [to my
team] about how I came across in that meeting,” this leader says. “But I also give them
really regular feedback: ‘Did you know you did
that in that meeting, how others may perceive
10
that?’ It’s really important to make the feedback
regular . . . on-the-ground coaching is critical.”
Courage also comes into play in a willingness to challenge entrenched organizational
attitudes and practices that promote homogeneity. In the 1980s, for example, McKinsey
changed its recruiting practices to promote
divergent thinking and meet a demand for
consultants. Instead of continuing to recruit
from a narrow pool of MBAs from the top
business schools, McKinsey’s Advanced
Professional Degree (APD) program sought
out talent from industry and a broader base
of universities.27 Where courage came in was
the preparedness to challenge the status quo
and then to address the initial bias toward
MBAs as partner-elects. Courageous partners
talked with their peers and sought personal
promises of commitment to support APD
talent; they briefed the evaluation committee on the need to assess performance objectively; and they intervened when necessary to
improve APD recruits’ chances of fitting in.
Today, 20 to 30 percent of McKinsey’s North
American associates are classed as APDs, as
opposed to 10 percent in the early 1990s;28 the
Thriving in a diverse new world
diversity of background, industry experience,
and discipline knowledge of APDs are seen as
highly valuable.29
There’s a vulnerability to being an inclusive
leader, because confronting others and the
status quo immediately invites the spotlight to
turn on the speaker. Being an agent for change
can also be met with cynicism and challenges
from others. According to University of Sydney
chancellor Belinda Hutchinson, “You need to
take risks and recognize that you’re going to
have some failures along the way, and you will
need to get up, shake yourself off, and get on
with it. It’s about patience and persistence. You
may try this, or that, and it may not work, but
if you keep driving towards the end goal, then
you will get there. So it is about courage and
commitment to stay the course.”
Inclusive leaders have the courage to speak
out about themselves and to reveal, in a very
personal way, their own limitations. Instead of
shying away from the challenge of imperfection, highly inclusive leaders adopt an attitude
of humility. In 2014, the US-based think tank
Catalyst identified “humility” as one of the four
leadership behaviors that predicated whether
employees felt included (see sidebar above,
“Catalyst and inclusive leadership”).30 Yet, as
Catalyst rightly pointed out, humility is the one
attribute that is “most antithetical to common
notions of leadership.” It is difficult for leaders
in the public spotlight to admit they don’t have
all the answers. Courage and humility therefore go hand in hand.
Humility, according to Catalyst, also
encompasses learning from criticism and
different points of view, as well as seeking
contributions from others to overcome one’s
limitations.31 According to Sodexo’s Anand,
“Those [leaders] who lack the self-awareness
and humility to learn and admit they don’t
know everything—these would be leaders who
miss an opportunity to learn, and who will be
blindsided if they are not careful.”
Trait 3: Cognizance of bias
Highly inclusive leaders are mindful of
personal and organizational blind spots, and
self-regulate to help ensure “fair play.”
“The leaders that are inclusive do a couple
of things,” says Sodexo’s Anand. “At the individual level, they are very self-aware, and they
act on that self-awareness. And they acknowledge that their organizations, despite best
intentions, have unconscious bias, and they
put in place policies, processes, and structures
in order to mitigate the unconscious bias that
exists.”
Table 4. Elements of courage
Signature trait: Courage
Element
Humility
What inclusive leaders
think about
• Awareness of personal strengths
and weaknesses
What inclusive leaders do
• Acknowledge personal limitations and weaknesses
• Seek the contributions of others to overcome personal
limitations
• Admit mistakes when made
Bravery
• Being an agent for change and
the positive impact diversity and
inclusion can have
• Approach diversity and inclusion wholeheartedly
• Challenge entrenched organizational attitudes and practices
that promote homogeneity
• Hold others to account for noninclusive behaviors
11
The six signature traits of inclusive leadership
EXAMPLES OF SUBTLE BIASES
THAT CAN NEGATIVELY IMPACT
THE WAY WE SEE OTHERS AND
THE DECISIONS WE MAKE
Implicit stereotypes
Occurs when people judge others according to
unconscious stereotypes
Similarity-attraction bias
The tendency to more easily and deeply connect
with people who “look and feel” like ourselves
In-group favoritism
A tendency to favor members of in-groups and
neglect members of out-groups
Attribution error
Occurs when the wrong reason is used to explain
someone’s behavior; coupled with in-group
favoritism, this results in a positive attribution for
in-group members and a negative attribution for
out-group members
Confirmation bias
Seeking or interpreting information that is partial
to existing beliefs
Groupthink
When the desire for group harmony overrides
rational decision making
Biases are a leader’s Achilles’ heel, potentially resulting in decisions that are unfair and
irrational. Inclusive leaders are deeply aware
that biases can narrow their field of vision
and prevent them from making objective
decisions. In particular, inclusive leaders are
highly sensitized to two fundamental phenomena: personal biases, such as homophily and
implicit stereotypes and attitudes; and process
biases, such as confirmation bias and groupthink.32 Importantly, they are cognizant of the
situations and factors, such as time pressures
and fatigue, causing them to be most vulnerable to biases’ pull. Inclusive leaders also exert
considerable effort to learn about their own
biases, self-regulate, and develop corrective
strategies. They understand that their natural state, without these interventions, tends
to lean toward self-cloning and self-interest,
and that success in a diverse world requires a
different approach.
BHP Billiton’s Henry is aware that recruitment is a vulnerable moment for him. “I am
very clear about the type of person I gravitate
to when hiring. Consciously, I put all sorts of
checks and balances in place with respect to
the thinkers I gravitate to. There have been
times when I have overridden my opinion
with others’ advice, and it has worked out
spectacularly.”
In the context of diverse talent, inclusive
leaders think about three features of fairness
with the aim of creating an environment of
“fair play”:33
1. Outcome: Are outcomes such as pay and
performance ratings, as well as development and promotion opportunities, allocated on the basis of capability and effort, or
does their distribution reflect bias?
2. Process: Are the processes applied in deciding these outcomes (a) transparent, (b)
applied consistently, (c) based on accurate
information, (d) free from bias, and (e)
inclusive of the views of individuals affected
by the decisions, or are they tinged with
bias, thus leading to undeserved success for
some and failure for others?
12
Thriving in a diverse
